Top 10 Movie Musicals

I have always had a love for music…leading to my love for musicals. Musicals are very special types of movies. Not only do you get to sit down for an hour and a half plus of unadulterated fun. It is more than your average movie. You get to see great acting, singing and dancing wrapped all up in one film. For me, it’s like a kaleidoscope.

1. Sound of Music (1965)

This is my all time favorite movie musical staring the great Julie Andrews. Maria (Andrews) wants to be a nun…but that may not be what destiny has in store for her after all. The Von Trapp family may just need her more. The songs in this movie are just timeless and on any day I can sit down and watch this movie.

2. Hairspray (2007)

I loved the older version starring Ricki Lake, but this updated musical had me laughing throughout. The humor was a great addition to the wonderful singing. This movie is centered around Tracy Turnblad (Nikki Blonsky) who wants to dance on a local television show. This may be a problem because Tracy Turnblad is pleasantly plump and there are people who don’t want to see her on the show. She also thinks that the dance show needs to integrate; she appreciates talent, no matter what the person’s race is. Both of those things seem to make her stand out from the closed minded thoughts of the 1960s.

3. My Fair Lady (1964)

Audrey Hepburn does a stunning performance in this tale of rags to riches. A professor wagers that he can turn Eliza Doolittle (Hepburn) from a dirty girl selling flowers to a woman of high society in no time. Charming and witty plot.

4. Moulin Rouge (2001)

Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor played the penniless poet and highly praised courtesan to perfection. I would have rated this higher if only it would have had a happy ending, with Satine (Kidman) living. I am a sucker for a Happily Ever After and the fact that this didn’t have one was a slight turn off for me.

5. Victor Victoria (1982)

Julie Andrews is just magnificent to watch; the voice and the acting skills are both superb. In this musical she plays Victoria Grant who in poor and about to be evicted from her small apartment. She is a marvelous singer…but unfortunately the market seems only to be looking for men. With a new friend at her side and a makeover Victoria becomes Victor. She is a woman pretending to be a man who is pretending to be a woman. Comical and fascinating at the same time.

6. The Phantom of the Opera (2004)

For me, the scene of Christine (Emma Rossum) singing Think of Me, made this movie for me. The Phantom, (Gerard Butler) also did a great job. I wanted to like him because I felt for him and could see he was a tortured soul. However, I could also feel Christine’s fear.

7. Annie (1999) I think out of all the Annie movies I’ve seen, Kathy Bates played Miss Agatha Hannigan the best. I thoroughly enjoyed this.

8. Grease (1978)

John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John made a splash in this movie. I treasured this movie in my teen years.

9. Dreamgirls (2006)

Strangely enough this was not an instant favorite for me, but it did eventually grow on me.

10. Funny Girl (1968)

Barbara Streisand, do I really have to say anymore?